Friday, September 11, 2015

Gallery Protocol /// Dance with flARmingosScientists and science fiction writers alike share a common vision of adapting planets into Earth-like habitats for when Earth becomes uninhabitable. “Dance with flARmingos!” prompts its artists to virtually terraform sites into the likeness of their choosing or as altogether new realities, free from the constraints and practicalities of an endeavor of this magnitude in the physical realm. Virtual space is after all unbound by laws of gravity, zoning and permit regulations, and budget ceilings. How much or how little will the site contexts of Gainesville and/or greater Florida play into your response? Do you rescue Earth or put it out of its misery? Prepare an underwater destiny or evaporate escape routes? Escavate subterranean land art or cyclone a tornado to do it for you? Will you submerge your audience in an unseen spirit world? Cultivate by irritation or gift shamanistic tools? Dance with flamingos or ride tantrum bicycles? Will you channel extra-‘century’ perception to reach optical conclusions or burn underwater candles from both ends? In anticipation of the physical changes that Protocol expects their property to undergo over the next several years, the digital presence of these ‘softscape’ works will function like a pre-existing history, an unseen framework to influence and even dictate how the physical hardscaping of the property will take shape. Perhaps one day “Dance with flARmingos!” will be the precursor to an indie miniature golf park.